Expanding your subscriber base during the holiday season requires a synthesis of creativity, user-friendliness, and data-driven strategizing. 

That said, the way you look at your goal can make a huge difference in how you work toward it.

How to increase email subscribers? – may not be the right question. We propose that instead of aiming to just “increase” subscribers, focus on how you can amplify your offerings and go out of your way to connect with your demographic. The strategies will remain the same; only the motivation will shift. 

Newsletters fundamentally serve as builders of relationships. With that in mind, let’s explore how to increase email newsletter subscribers this holiday season.

Create and Promote Seasonal Content

The first step is to craft unmissable seasonal content. For that, you need to gauge the mood of your audience during the peak season. 

Now it’s not enough to know that consumers are in a festive mood and are expecting brands to act in a certain way. Anyone can tell you that. You want to conduct extensive market research and actually feel the pulse of the people. 

That done, you want to tease potential subscribers on social media platforms by offering sneak peeks into subscriber-only gift guides, holiday offers, seasonal videos, newsletter excerpts, infographics, etc. This may be called value teasing. 

Implement A User-friendly Signup Process

It’s common for retail stores to inspect their entrance doors during busy shopping events or holiday sales. This includes the use of electronic door counters and the implementation of safety protocols to guarantee smooth customer entry, emphasizing the importance of accessibility.

Similarly, implementing a frictionless signup process is critical for assimilating new subscribers into your contact list. This involves:

• Simplifying signup forms: Ask for essential information and use auto-fill options. Here’s how the GhostHunter Store does it. 

• Mobile optimization: Ensure your signup form is mobile-responsive. Below is an illustration of the mobile-optimized sign up form on Nike. 

• Offering social sign-ins: Allow people to sign up using their preferred social media accounts. Here is an example from Adidas.

• Providing incentives: Offer a discount or a free downloadable resource in exchange for signing up. Here’s how Bonobos does it.

Promote Subscription on High-traffic Pages

Ideally, you want to feature newsletter signups on your home page and landing pages. However, subscription placement also depends on what kind of a brand you are and which of your pages generate the most traffic.  

So, how to increase email newsletter subscribers?

If you are an ecommerce brand, you may want a signup form on your product page(s). Some brands tend to include a signup form toward the end of a product recommendation quiz. A notable example would be Warby Parker.

If you have dedicated landing pages to promote holiday events or offers, you want to feature a signup form on those pages in order to capture users who may be interested in your seasonal offers. 

Including a subscription form on your blog may not work if your posts lack popularity. 

Use Exit-intent Pop-ups

Exit-intent popups are a great way to capture visitors just as they are about to leave your website. (Pop-ups capitalize on the concept of bounded rationality, where decision-making is constrained by cognitive limitations.) For the holiday season, you want to customize these pop-ups to encourage sign-ups. 

At this juncture, design and evoking a sense of urgency assume paramount importance. Keep the design festive and engaging to capture the holiday spirit. You want to create a visually appealing experience. Craft compelling copy for your holiday exclusives by using negative triggers. In these examples, the bolded words/phrases act as triggers:

• “Avoid Missing Out on Festive Surprises – Sign Up for Our Holiday Newsletter”
  
• “Say ‘No’ to Missing Exclusive Holiday Offers – Join Our Newsletter Now!”
  
• “Prevent Holiday FOMO – Stay in the Loop with Our Newsletter!”
  
• “Hurry, Before You Miss Our Seasonal Secrets – Subscribe Today!”
  
• “Don’t Get Left in the Cold – Connect with Our Holiday Newsletter!”
  
• “Act Now to Avoid Missing Out on Merry Moments – Subscribe Today!”
  
• “Say Goodbye to Gift-Giving Guesswork – Get Our Holiday Newsletter!”

Organize Holiday-themed Contests and Giveaways

Running a holiday-themed contest in the peak season can be very effective— as long as it is executed thoughtfully. There is no dearth of ideas as such. Just reflecting on your brand identity can give you a lot of ideas for contests and giveaways. What truly matters is the implementation. 

The famous “scarcity principle,” one of Robert Cialdini’s principles of influence, suggests that people are more drawn toward things that are perceived as scarce. 

Why? Scarcity tends to increase the perceived value of something. This is also the secret behind exclusive content which confers a sense of belonging to a select group. This is a particularly rewarding experience and acts as an intrinsic motivation. You want to use this principle to attract new subscribers. 

To participate in your contest, users will be required to submit their email addresses. This is how you capture valuable leads. To maximize participation, promote your contest across marketing channels, including email, social media, and your website. 

Leverage Social Proof and Trust Signals 

The essence of the idea remains: individuals often take cues from others’ behavior. This is prominent especially in the holiday season. So here are some of the ways you can leverage social proof to reel in new subscribers:

• Display a live count of subscribers on your website, creating a sense of urgency to join the community.
  
• Consider running a countdown campaign to the holiday, while highlighting the growing number of subscribers per diem.
  
• Share stories of how your newsletter has positively impacted the holiday experience of subscribers.
  
• Collaborate with popular influencers in your niche who can vouch for the value of your email newsletter.
  
• Consider giving achievement badges to long-term subscribers, then promote it on social media. (Remember value-teasing?)
  
• Offer teasers from exclusive behind-the-scenes content related to your holiday newsletter preparations.
  
• Create holiday-themed leaderboards showing the most engaged subscribers or top referrers during the season. Offer them tailor-made digital tokens of appreciation.

Utilize Email Signatures and Social Media

The point is to include a subscription link or CTA in your email signatures and social media profiles. The latter is one of the simpler ways to give a boost to newsletter subscriptions, and it can yield significant organic results if even a few of your team members command a substantial following on social media. 

Just make sure that your call-to-action is clear and concise. Use persuasive language to tell the recipient what you want them to do, and make it easy for them to do it. 

You could also include a link to your newsletter subscription in the footer. As an illustration, HubSpot includes the link to their Hustle newsletter in every email they send.

Retarget Abandoned Carts

We’ve been exploring methods to attract subscribers from external sources. It’s worth noting that your existing contact list contains potential subscribers. You want to re-engage them by sending cart abandonment emails. 

This is a common issue during the holidays. Visitors browse for gift ideas but don’t complete their purchases. But it’s an excellent opportunity to reconnect with your audience. Why? Since the trigger doesn’t start from your end, you’re now engaging out of necessity, so to speak, rather than trying to pester a few cold leads into brand loyalty.

In terms of revenue recovery, this works, especially during the holidays. In order to rake in more subscribers as well, you may add prominent subscription CTAs in your cart abandonment emails. 

Wrapping Up!

Now that you know how to increase newsletter signups, time to reiterate the soft goal of it all. 

As previously emphasized, newsletters are designed to cultivate enduring relationships. While mastering strategies is a crucial aspect, effectively putting them into practice with the right intentions is an entirely different challenge. As you integrate the concepts outlined in this blog post into your newsletter campaign, it’s essential not to lose sight of the overarching purpose behind it: not just number-crunching, but adding value to people’s daily lives. 

The post How to Increase Email Newsletter Subscribers During the Holiday Season? appeared first on Email Uplers.

Introduction

What are email notifications

Differences between email notifications and push notifications

Advantages of email notifications

Email notifications best practices: 8 mantras to swear by

17 types of notification emails

Miscellaneous email notification template examples

Two categories of email notifications: An overview

Wrapping up

[This post was originally published on June 2023. It has been updated on 20th Aug 2024.]

Introduction

How many times do you check your phone for notifications? Almost all the time, right? That’s how important notifications are! They give you real-time updates about almost everything under the sun, whether it is the weather, marketing offers, or messages. 

Notifications are the most coveted form of communication as the user has opted in to receive them. These messages are sent in response to a particular action taken by the customer. So, they are like your favorite guests who have informed you about their arrival and you are looking forward to their visit. Text messages, push notifications, and emails are the three channels extensively used to send notifications. 

Through this article, we shall focus on email notifications, what sets them apart, and notification email examples used in different situations to give you a practical overview. 

What are Email Notifications?

Email notifications are emails sent to inform/notify subscribers regarding the changes to your products. They also help communicate any new features or timings of the scheduled maintenance. These emails keep the prospects or customers updated and allow them to plan their tasks better. They are better than marketing emails or newsletters as they provide valuable information that users are looking forward to. (For example: Order shipped notification emails)

A close competitor of email notifications is its little brother push notifications. They serve as instant messages broadcasted to everyone on your list. 

Differences Between Push Notifications and Emails

Although they are quite similar in their objective of notifying people, they are different in certain aspects as discussed below:

1. Email notifications have no length limitations

Push notifications have limitations when it comes to the length. It depends on the browsers and devices. Mostly, the title text should be 30 to 50 characters while the body text should be up to 125 characters. You can also add an image to support your notification. But with custom email templates, you have a huge playground to explore. You can add text, images, animations, and whatnot!

2. Push notifications have a lower tolerance threshold

Push notifications can get quite overwhelming for an average user. That leads them to turn off the notifications and unsubscribe. With emails, people are more tolerant. Even if they mark your emails as read, ignore, or delete them, they might not unsubscribe on a whim. And the best part is you can even re-engage and reactivate the dormant subscribers with the help of email notifications. 

3. It is easier to A/B test push notifications

Emails involve too many variables and elements to test. On the other hand, push notifications have fewer parameters to evaluate. So, it is easier to A/B test the latter. 

Considering all these differences, it is easy to deduce that email notifications work better than push notifications. 

Here’s how email notifications have the upper hand when it comes to engaging subscribers.

Advantages of Email Notifications

1. Emails have a good open rate

Notification emails have a higher open rate in comparison to marketing emails and email newsletters. As they include only important information, subscribers will be keen to open and click-through. A good open rate translates to higher deliverability for the future email campaigns and better email sender reputation. 

2. Email notifications keep users posted

Suppose you are discontinuing a feature in your product. It would be great to send out an email notification so that the users don’t get caught off guard. They should get enough time to make changes to their usage or try a new product. 

3. Regular notification emails contribute to customer retention 

When you send out regular email notifications, you stay at the top of the subscriber’s mind. It helps reinforce brand recall and enhance awareness. Besides, it helps build trust and boost loyalty.

4. Email notifications help in promoting new features or products

When you want to announce a new product or feature update, email notifications work well in informing the readers. They pique the subscriber’s curiosity and prompt them to try it out. 

Email Notifications Tips: 8 Mantras to Swear By

Notification emails must conform to certain best practices if you want to make the most out of them.

Take a look at the 8 tips you must learn by heart.

1. Write subject lines that instantly convey the purpose of the email

“Your notification email is the most important email that the user should see and read.”

If you want the user to agree with this self-proclaimed statement, write a subject line that reflects the exigency of your notification email. For example: Subject lines like “Your free trial is about to expire in a day” or “Scheduled maintenance on 15th February 2023” instantly inform the users what the email is about. 

2. Include a single message in the email

Brevity is the key when it comes to emails… and it becomes all the more important for notification emails. Be clear, crisp, and only include the necessary information related to the notification. 

Take a look at this notification email example by HDFC Bank in which they have clearly communicated every minute detail to the subscriber. Also, they have informed the users about alternative usage methods in case of any urgency.  

3. Personalize the emails

Personalized notification emails add a human touch to the emails and help build the subscriber’s trust. They feel like a breath of fresh air amidst those bot-driven, automated emails. Include the subscriber’s first name and other relevant information to create tailormade notification emails like the one by Google Local Guides shown below:

4. Place an actionable CTA in the email

Notification emails are not only about notifying the users. They could also expect action from the subscriber. It could be something like “Learn more”, “Upgrade my account”, or “Start my free trial”. Make sure you add a single CTA button and keep the email free from any distractions. It’s good to have plenty of white space around the CTA to get it easily noticed. 
Take a look at this email by Audible.in. They have added a CTA button in the first fold and repeated it in the second fold so that the readers don’t miss out on it. 

5. Be proactive and send the email well in advance

It is advisable to inform the subscribers about any changes well in advance. Take a look at this notification email template that informs the user about the scheduled maintenance. It was sent a week prior to the maintenance date. So, the users will get enough time to plan their usage despite the downtime.  

6. Adhere to all the branding guidelines

Notification emails, just like every other email type, should follow all the brand guidelines. They should reflect the brand personality and impart a consistent experience to the readers. 

Here are two email notification templates from WazirX. See how they conform to the same brand guidelines.  

The first email is a notification email informing the reader about the change in the two factor authentication while the second email informs them about reactivation of INR deposits.

7. Always include contact information in your notification emails

It is most likely that your notification emails contain information that might bring some questions to the reader’s mind. So, you must add your contact details in the email without fail. 

8. Allow the subscribers to set their preferences

Many subscribers prefer to receive important notifications through text messages or push notifications. Allow them to opt out or set their preferences about which notifications they wish to receive and how often. 

Popular Tools for Sending Notification Emails

Here are some popular tools for sending notification emails:

• Constant Contact 
• HubSpot 
• Braze 
• Mailchimp 
• Brevo 
• Optimove
• Omnisend 
• OneSignal 

Next, let’s look at the various types of email notifications along with email notification template examples. 

Types of Notification Emails

Depending on your industry and business operations involved, you will need different types of email notification templates. eCommerce industry marketers would have to send order update notifications through emails. Contrarily, SaaS business owners would prefer sending notifications about the free trial or product update emails. 

Let’s take a look at the wide range of notification emails that peacefully coexist in the marketing landscape.

1. Password reset email

In case a user forgets the password and requests to reset it, password reset emails come to their rescue. You might find a bunch of these notification email samples in your inbox if you sift through it.

You can either choose this opportunity to cross-sell or upsell your products or keep it simple like the example by Twitter below. 

What we liked about this notification email example is that they have talked about the user’s security. They have explained how to avoid email spoofing attempts and stay safe in a world of rampant cyber attacks.

Bear in mind that 28.6% of password resets tend to fail, multiple attempts notwithstanding. Make sure, therefore, to review the reset process before sending out an email. 

2. Support confirmation emails

Often, you have to send an email to the customer support team for troubleshooting any issues. Support confirmation email notifications are sent in response to these emails. They confirm the receipt of your email and let you know that the support team will get back to you. 

ProWritingAid sends out a detailed email that attempts to resolve the user’s concerns without any manual intervention. 

You can also use these email notifications for subtle promotion of your products without coming off as a salesy brand. First, try to resolve the customer’s problem and then proceed with the promotion. 

3. Email notifications from the support staff

Recently,  one of our team member’s account was charged USD 119.40 for the auto-renewal of Canva Pro subscription. It just slipped their mind that they had to cancel the subscription. So, they approached the customer support team at Canva and thankfully, the support staff was generous enough to cancel the subscription with a full refund. 

Here’s a sneak peek into the email from their support staff. 

It exudes emotions and imparts a human touch to the emails. Reading it doesn’t feel like you are reading an email notification but a friendly note from an acquaintance. It strengthens the feeling that there is an empathetic human at the other end of the digital device. 

Of course, as mentioned previously, you can recommend relevant products in these customer email notifications or choose not to do so. It’s all up to you. 

4. Customer support feedback email

Subsequent to the email shared above, the team member also received a notification email requesting their feedback for the customer support.

Catch this email notification template example. These emails make the customers feel special and build their trust. They are more likely to buy from such brands in the future, if not immediately. 

5. Scheduled downtime notification

As shared previously, scheduled downtime notification emails are commonly sent by the banking and finance industry. They allow the users to plan their transactions properly without missing out on any due dates. Catch this notification email example.

6. Security notifications

With cyber threats on the rise, it is inevitable to send email notifications related to the security of the account. If there’s any suspicious activity or login attempt, the user should be immediately informed. 

Does this meme ring a bell?

Memes and jokes apart, Gmail does a great job at protecting the user’s security. 

Take a look at this email notification template example by Gmail. These notification emails play an important role in the banking industry too where there’s a huge scope of getting unauthorized access to sensitive information.

7. Order confirmation emails

Now, we shall enter the world of email notification template examples in the eCommerce industry. The first in the list is the order confirmed email notification. 

Whenever you place an order, you wait for those magical words – “Your order is confirmed”. Take a look at this order confirmation email by OLIPOP. They have signed off the email with “Stay tuned for the shipment email” to keep the readers hooked. 

Image source

As the customer has already made a purchase from you, you can share a discount coupon code in these emails. It will help retain them and encourage them to purchase again. In addition, you can also ask them about their purchase experience, like Myntra has done. It will allow you to improvise and impart a better experience each time. 

8. Shipping confirmation notifications

After the order confirmation emails come the shipping notification emails. These email updates keep the users posted about the progress of their order in real time. MeUndies sends out a brilliant shipping confirmation notification email. 

It serves 3 purposes:

a. Informs the user about the tracking details
b. Shares the referral offer
c. Highlights the link to the help center in case the user has any questions 

Image source

9. Shipment out for delivery notification

Is that you after placing an online order? 

Well, that’s exactly why order notification emails are so important. They make the wait easier and let you know about your order in real time. You don’t need to sit by the window sill after placing the order. Instead, you can do so after receiving the shipment out for delivery email notification. 

Shipment out for delivery emails let the users plan their availability and inform the delivery executive in case they are not available at the delivery address. 

Take a look at this out-for-delivery email notification template example.

Image source

10.  Shipment delivered emails

Once the order is successfully delivered at the location, they receive these delivery notifications. If you have someone else receiving the order on your behalf, shipment delivered emails prove to be very useful. 

Take a look at this email notification template example which they have notified the user about the shipment delivery and also explained the usage of the product. It’s like killing two birds with one stone. 

Image source

11. Order canceled email notifications

If a user cancels the order, they receive confirmation emails about the same. 

Here’s an order cancellation notification email template for your reference. 

Sometimes, you might have to send cancellation emails for an event or webinar. Now, it can get quite frustrating for you and the readers alike. So, why not make it fun and optimistic like Really Good Emails has done?

Here’s an example that notifies the readers about the cancellation of UNSPAM events in 2022. 

12. Refund initiated email notifications

After a user applies for an order return request, they will receive a series of email notifications:

1. Return request accepted
2. Return out for pickup
3. Refund initiated
4. Refund processed

For order cancellation requests, the first two email notifications are eliminated. You just need to send a confirmation for the canceled order and refund-related notifications. 

Here’s an acknowledgement email notification template that lets the user know that their return request has been accepted and explains to them how to ship the item. 

13. Updates about the free trial

We have become over-reliant on Google calendars and reminder emails to notify us about our meetings, holidays, expiry of free trials, and almost everything. Take a look at this email by Google Play that reminds the subscriber that their free trial is about to end. It will encourage the user to take action in case they wish to extend the subscription. Also, it will help avoid any inconvenience caused due to a canceled trial. 

While this was a bit boring reminder email, you can give it an interesting twist like Wistia. They have also added a dash of humor and cuteness to increase the subscriber engagement.

14. Cart abandonment emails

Abandoned cart emails are notification emails sent when a customer leaves products in the cart without completing the purchase. You can revive this lost conversion opportunity by sending out cart abandonment emails. These email notifications will remind the distracted users about the item in the cart and get them to complete the purchase.

You can also use cart abandonment emails to upsell and cross-sell your products as shown in the abandoned cart email notification template below. 

If we talk from a business perspective, they contribute a lot to “recovered revenue”. It makes managers happy and helps unravel unexpected business growth and profitability. To make it work, send out a series of 2 to 3 cart abandonment emails over a week. That’s the recommended frequency. 

15. Welcome emails

Welcome emails are important notification emails that serve many purposes:

i. They work as a subscription confirmation email.

ii. They let the users know what the product is all about.

iii. You can share your brand story, vision, and mission with the readers.

iv. You can add an incentive or special offer to make the new subscribers buy from you. 

v. It can be used to share useful links with the readers. 

Here’s the mobile responsive email template by Stripe that welcomes the subscriber and enlightens them about everything they should know about using the product. 

16. Account activation email

Some businesses prefer to send a confirmation email before activating the user’s account. That’s where an activation email notification comes into play. See how EmailOctopus has sent out a simple yet effective account activation email.

17. Out of office notification

Last but not the least is the out of office notification email. It lets the users know that you won’t be available for some time. These notifications come in the picture especially for agencies, freelancers, and physical stores. 

Take a look at this out of office email notification by Email Uplers:

Now, we shall take a look at some miscellaneous email notification template examples that could inspire you to create your own.

Miscellaneous Notification Email Examples

1. Account updates by freelancing portals

Freelancing portals like Upwork and PeoplePerHour have to send email notifications for various reasons. It could be an unread message from a client, transfer of funds by the client, or policy updates. Once in a while, it could also be bad news like account suspension. 

Take a look at this email notification by Upwork that conveys the news of account suspension. The good part is that they have allowed the freelancer to appeal the decision to their team. 

2. Notification email conveying changes made to Google Docs

Most of us are working on Google Docs these days. It becomes editing, suggesting, and saving our work so much easier. And to make things even better, we get real-time notifications about the changes made to the doc. Take a look at this nemail notification template. It allows the user to read the comment without the need to go to the doc. It makes the task such a breeze, right?

3. Changes to the privacy policy or legal terms and conditions

Whenever you make changes to your privacy policy or legal terms, you must inform the customers about it as soon as possible. 

Here’s an email by PayPal that notifies the users about the legal updates. It includes a link to the Policy updates page in case the subscribers wish to learn more.

4. Social media updates]

Social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram have several reasons to send out email notifications. 

a. Password reset
b. Suspicious login 
c. New follower
d. New message/ message request
e. Friend request or connection request
f. Paid ads-related notifications

Take a look at this notification email by Facebook. It calls the users to boost their listing and increase the reach of their sponsored post. 

Image source

Two Categories of Email Notifications: An Overview

Notifications for email can either be triggered in response to an event or sent as a conventional email campaign. While the former is a part of an automated workflow, the latter has to be scheduled or deployed manually. Generally, password reset emails, cart abandonment emails, or order update emails fall in the triggered email notifications. On the other hand, updates in the privacy policy or legal terms are one-off emails sent as regular campaigns. You should check your ESP or CRM to get an idea about the same. 

Sounds confusing? Turn to email campaign management services by Email Uplers. 

Wrapping Up

Most brands send boring, plain-text notification emails without utilizing the opportunity that lies underneath. I would advise you to go a step beyond the traditional methods and bring innovation in your email notifications. Create custom email templates — animate the hero image, demonstrate the feature update, and try to bring the emails to life. Incorporating such elements and interactivity will take the user experience to the next level and enhance the campaign performance. And as always, if you find yourself stuck anywhere, get in touch with our design team! 

The post How to Keep Subscribers in the Know with Notification Emails: A Detailed Guide to Doing it Right appeared first on Email Uplers.

But in the real world, it’s not so simple. 

Excluding irrelevant subscribers from campaigns requires your full attention. That’s what negative segmentation is all about. 

But how do you determine which subscribers to exclude? 

Now, we’re not talking about suppression lists. We’re interested in active, engaged subscribers. Not those who no longer want your emails and are better suppressed. 

But which active, engaged subscribers? — that’s the question… 

Because your conversion rates are modest; there isn’t much sales happening, even though people are engaging with your emails. 

In this blog post, we’ll be trying to solve this Rubik’s-puzzle of email marketing. Here are some of the rotations, if you will, we’ll try:

• Understand Subscriber Preferences
  
• Pick Behavioral over Personal Data
  
• Learn to Wait for Your Subscribers
  
• Distinguish between Forms of Intent
  
• Distinguish between Types of Buyer
  
• Choose the Right Amount of Triggers
  
• Create Smart as Well as Specific Content

1. Understand Subscriber Preferences

One of the lessons we’ve learned from doing email marketing for a decade now is that you can’t take subscribers’ word for everything. 

Here’s why: Subscribers are not the best judges of their own preferences. They’re often unaware of their own interests and needs. 

As a result, it’s critical you focus more on what subscribers do than what they say. Distinguish between their expressed and implied preferences, in other words. This is something that Chad S. White notes in his book Email Marketing Rules. 

If a subscriber has expressed interest in Oxford shoes but spends their time looking at flats, you should exclude that subscriber from the ‘Formal footwear’ segment. 

That’s a starting point for modifying the relevance criteria for that particular subscriber. The key is to estimate relevance on the basis of behavior, not words.  

On this principle, there can be multiple cart abandonment segments, not just one. So for example, those who habitually abandon carts on purpose to avail discount offers should not receive incentivized reminders.

2. Pick Behavioral over Personal Data

Email marketers tend to overestimate subscriber birthdays. 

It’s critical that you have your subscribers’ personal data. Offering incentives on people’s birthdays works. 

But not always. Because there could be outliers. And these outliers will have signaled their preferences for birthday emails. 

‘But who wouldn’t like a gift on their birthday?’ — is not a question marketers need to ask. You’re to reward each subscriber according to their preferences. 

So if you’ve segments by birthday date, you should exclude indifferent subscribers from these segments. 

In fact, you can create a super-segment of just these indifferent subscribers. And you can send them other triggered emails on their birthdays. 

Read More: Best Email Unsubscribe Examples

3. Learn to Wait for Your Subscribers

‘Triggered’ has often made email marketers trigger-happy. 

Full credit to leveraging triggered emails. But you’re dealing ultimately with human beings, not data points. Which is why action-triggered emails can often flop. 

Mr. X left an item in their cart. That’s a trigger for a cart abandonment email. 

But hold on! If you know Mr. X has, in the past, come back in a day or two to complete the checkout, you can be sure they don’t need a cart abandonment email. 

If you’re a wise email marketer, you wouldn’t have bracketed Mr. X with the typical abandoners, right? Mr. X doesn’t belong in that segment. 

Learn to wait for your subscribers. Not everyone always needs a push. Distinguish between slow buyers and abandoners. 

4. Distinguish between Forms of Intent

If someone spent considerable time looking at your product category, you shouldn’t automatically put them in the high-intent category. 

Instead, you should ask yourself the following questions:

• Is this a new subscriber?
  
• Has the subscriber made a purchase yet?
  
• How many purchases have they made?
  
• How often do they buy?
  
• How often do they explore the product page?
  
• Where do they go after viewing the product page?

A single behavior can have that many layers and more. High-intent is precious. Treat it preciously. 

You don’t want to send a “new product” email to subscribers who’ve rarely gone beyond the intent stage. 

You should try other means to convert them, such as sending buying guides, customer testimonials, and “Tell us what you like” surveys for progressive profiling. 

5. Distinguish between Types of Buyer

Yes, there are all kinds of buyers. But for the moment, we’re concerned with two types: low-value and high-value buyers. 

Remember, this also includes high-value and low-value products. 

So imagine you’re a winery and you’ve launched a new wine.

If your new wine is expensive, don’t send that new arrival email to those who have historically bought cheaper wines from you. 

Now, there could be exceptions. 

If a low-value buyer has left an expensive wine in their cart, do send them a cart abandonment email (after having analyzed their historical organic time to purchase data). 

On the other hand, if a high-value subscriber has not shown any interest in your expensive new wine but has left a cheaper alternative in their cart, refrain from sending them a cart abandonment reminder. The product is not worth that much.  

As you can see, you can’t approach even your most loyal customers with a one-size-fits-all mindset.

6. Choose the Right Amount of Triggers

Imagine you’ve created a segment for browse abandonment. It includes, say, 50 subscribers who’ve more or less habitually exhibited browse abandonment behavior. 

Should you send the browse abandonment email to all 50 people the next time they abandon your website pages? 

By now, you know you shouldn’t. 

If one subscriber out of the 50 explored a product category, then abandoned it, and came back in a few hours to explore another product category, you should send just one browse abandonment email, not two. 

Similarly, if a subscriber browsed your page for just a few seconds, don’t send them a browse abandonment email, even though they are technically abandoners and belong in the same segment.  

In other words, you exclude these subscribers from the browse abandonment segment. Negative segmentation.

So you need to determine how many triggered emails a subscriber should receive in a given period of time. 

7. Create Smart as Well as Specific Content

Yes, customers say they like to receive personalized emails from their favorite brands. And that’s true. 

But as marketers, we should be careful not to overdo it. 

Because that’s a general fact, and the preference for personalized communication may vary from person to person. 

Take browsing once again. The good email marketer would determine the optimal time to send a triggered email. It could be immediately or not. 

But the smart email marketer, if the send is immediate, would know that in spite of customers’ preference for personalized emails, they also prefer not being creeped out. 

What if the subscriber whose action triggered that browse abandonment email belonged in that category of customers? 

A triggered email with a header, “We saw you noticing…” wouldn’t be the best choice in that case. It’s too obvious you’ve been watching the subscriber. 

Which means the subscriber, although belonging in the browse abandonment segment, shouldn’t receive such a direct email. In short, you exclude them. 

Instead, the content for that subscriber should be oblique, even though they might know it’s triggered by their action. 

Take the Fancy Out of ‘Relevance’

Words like relevance, personalized, segmentation, etc., can remain just that: words. But when it comes down to cents and dollars, it’s not that straightforward, is it?

The key takeaway from everything we’ve discussed is that the individual often trumps the segment. 

They may be in the right segment. But how they engage, how they react or don’t, how they decide, how sooner or later they take action, etc., are critical parameters. 

We could only try some of the rotations in this post. You could go on turning the sides endlessly. The right kind of email marketing is always in a flux. In the real world, your methodologies are challenged every time, and you must rely on intuition and logic.

Need help generating sales and revenue from email marketing? Over 5000 clients across 52 countries have benefitted from our email services. Get in touch! 

The post Negative Segmentation: How to Determine Which Email Subscribers to Exclude appeared first on Email Uplers.

The benefits of email segmentation include:

• Improved campaign performance: More relevant content will lead to greater engagement, resulting in higher open rates, clicks, and conversions.
  
• Improved email deliverability: Higher engagement with emails signals sender authenticity to email service providers.
  
• Improved targeting: Distinguish between loyal and and not-so-loyal customers to create relevant, targeted emails for each segment.
  
• Improved customer experience: Offering customers exactly what they’re looking for leads to better CX. 

The process of segmentation varies from ESP to ESP. In this guide, we’re going to learn how to do audience segmentation in Mailchimp. Later, feel free to learn how to create and send an effective Mailchimp drip campaign. 

• Mailchimp audience segmentation steps
  
• Segmentation by demographics
  
• Segmentation by behavior
  
• Segmentation by interest
  
• Segmentation by buyer journey
  
• Launching your campaign 

1. Mailchimp Audience Segmentation Steps

By breaking down your subscriber list into smaller, more specific groups, you can tailor your messages to suit the unique needs and interests of each segment. 

Follow these simple steps to create audience segments in Mailchimp:

1. Log in to your Mailchimp account using your credentials. Once logged in, navigate to the Audience tab.

2. Select the audience you wish to segment from the drop-down menu.

3. Once you’ve chosen your audience, click on the Manage Audience dropdown and select “View Contacts” to access the Audience dashboard.

4. On the Audience dashboard, locate and click on the “Create Segment” button to initiate the segmentation process.

5. In the segment creation window, define the conditions that will determine how your audience is segmented. This could include factors such as demographics, interests, or past interactions.

6. After setting your segment conditions, preview the segment to ensure it accurately captures the desired audience subset.

7. Once you’re satisfied with the segment preview, click on the “Save Segment” button to save your segmentation settings.

Segmentation by Demographics

This is the most common method of audience segmentation—and usually the easiest one. Age, income level, job type, and geographic location are all demographic criteria you can use to sort your audience. 

One way to segment customers based on location is by targeting them when they’re most likely to want your product. For instance, a farming business might buy equipment during harvest time. In some places like the American South, this could be nearly all year, while in other regions, it might be in summer or fall.

Important note: You can group people by different categories like where they live or how old they are, but only if you’ve gathered that info from them.

For instance: If you didn’t ask where your subscribers are from, you can’t sort them by country at first. But with Mailchimp, you can guess where they’re from after sending some emails using the ‘predicted’ feature.

Segmentation by Behavior

Customer behavior segments require e-commerce data in your account from version 3.0 of Mailchimp API. This data can come from integrations like Mailchimp for Magento, Mailchimp for BigCommerce, or a custom API 3.0 integration.

This approach goes beyond just splitting people by basic details like age or location. Instead, it delves into how people behave when they shop. It means examining what they buy, how often they buy it, and why they make those purchases. 

For instance, someone who regularly makes small purchases needs different messages than someone who only buys big items occasionally. This is because their needs and reasons for buying are different. With behavioral segmentation, your message is crafted to reach customers when they’re most likely to make a purchase. 

Examples of these groups include potential buyers, first-time purchasers, regular customers, and those who’ve switched to a different brand.

Segmentation by Engagement

Create segments based on how subscribed email contacts have interacted with your emails. For example, use a combination of segmenting criteria to target contacts who were sent recent emails but didn’t open them.

Here are some examples of how email interaction segments work.

• Email interaction | did not open | Any of the Last 5 Campaigns

Subscribed email contacts who did not open 1 or more of your last 5 emails

• Email interaction | did not open | All of the Last 5 Campaigns

Subscribed email contacts who opened none of your last 5 emails

• Email interaction | opened | Any of the Last 5 Campaigns

Subscribed email contacts who opened 1 or more of your last 5 emails

• Email interaction | opened | All of the Last 5 Campaigns

Subscribed email contacts who opened all of your last 5 email

Segmentation by Interest

Everyone has unique interests, from the things they find visually appealing to the activities they love. By targeting customers according to these interests, you can divide your audience effectively and tailor your messages accordingly. 

For instance, if many of your customers are passionate about a specific sport or team, you can design personalized and captivating ads for them. You can also segment your audience based on their preferred aesthetic, whether it’s a sleek, contemporary style or a classic, traditional one.

Note: To aim your messages directly at specific interests, you’ve got to have those interests saved in your audience list. Alternatively, you can link up your store to gather that info and target your audience based on it.

Segmentation by Buyer Journey

With this strategy, you customize your messages according to where your customer is in their buying process. 

If you’re not familiar, the buyer’s journey typically consists of three stages: awareness, consideration, and decision. At the start of their journey, a buyer might only be realizing they have a problem to solve. But toward the end, they already know what they want and are ready to decide. 

Instead of sending everyone the same message, segmentation allows you to address each buyer’s unique needs and address any questions they might have.

Read more: How To Leverage Email Segmentation To Maintain Customer Relationship?

Launch Your Campaign

Now that you’ve saved your segment, you can customize your email campaigns to reach this particular audience group. Create personalized messages that connect with their interests and preferences to boost interaction and increase conversions.

Hire A Mailchimp Pro Partner for Your Next Campaign!

Mastering audience segmentation on Mailchimp is key to delivering targeted and relevant content to your subscribers. 

We are a team of dedicated Mailchimp email pros, developers, campaign managers, automation experts, and migration specialists. 

Looking to launch a new email campaign? Learn how to choose the right Mailchimp experts. Or, get in touch with our Mailchimp crew right away, and make a date with success! 

The post Pro Guide: How to Do Mailchimp Audience Segmentation appeared first on Email Uplers.

So much for where consumers stand. But what about marketers? ‘There’s a market for everything’ is noise to any marketer who’s had to find their feet in new, often challenging, realities. The question is how to be consumer-ready at all times. 

You see, travel consumers are craving for personalized interactions, reliable information, hassle-free booking experiences, competent deals (travel is expensive), etc. Now being a marketer, you might be having the following thoughts:

• Which channel is best-fitted to accommodate the shifting consumer habits?
  
• What new technologies should I integrate into my marketing campaigns?
  
• How to connect with customers at every stage of their journey?
  
• How do I tailor my marketing campaigns to different types of travelers?

The answer to all these questions is AI-integrated email marketing. In this post, we’ll give you a detailed, actionable run-through of AI-based email marketing for tourism. Let’s hit the road!

• AI-driven segmentation and personalization
  
• Predictive analytics for the travel industry
  
• AI optimization for travel email marketing
  
• AI-powered A/B testing for the travel industry
  
• Send-time optimization for the travel industry
  
• Is AI email marketing an exact science?

AI-driven Segmentation And Personalization

Increasingly, travel consumers want brands to connect with them on their terms. Thanks to changing global realities, new audience segments are on the rise. 

Take leisure travelers, for instance. These are people who work from anywhere, and travel for business and pleasure. (Think of sunlit meetings on a beach in Florida!) It’s a new segment, and is close to outmoding traditional travel. 

Then there’s cool-cationers, eco-conscious travelers, celebration vacationers, analog adventurers, etc. The only way you can offer niche-friendly experiences is through AI-driven segmentation and personalization.  Here’s how it works:

1. AI analyzes customer data: AI algorithms crunch all kinds of customer data, e.g. demographics, purchase history, email interactions, website behavior.
   
2. Pattern-finding: These algorithms identify recurring patterns in the data to recognize individual customer preferences.
   
3. Segmentation enforced: Next, the AI algorithms segment audiences based on hyper-granular criteria. These segments, based on micro-categories and nuanced audience behavior, go beyond traditional segmentation.
   
4. Personalization in action: Having known what individual customers are looking for, the model tailors content, recommendations, and offers.

So that’s what the process looks like in general. But to give you a flavor of how it might look in reality, here’s an example.

Imagine a travel company that wants to personalize the vacation experience of a segment of gen Z travelers who prefer solo eco-friendly adventures.

So first, it collects the data required for segmentation. This may include past trips, website browsing history, social media engagement, email preferences, etc. 

Now the algorithm creates a segment dedicated to all such customers that belong in the right category. 

Next, the company targets these customers with tailored content. So, if someone has explored adventure tour packages in Costa Rica on the company’s website, they receive an email showcasing upcoming hiking and wildlife experiences in Costa Rica, along with booking details, stay schedules, etc. 

Predictive Analytics for the Travel Industry

Predictive analytics is used to predict future outcomes using historical data, statistical modeling, data mining, and machine learning. 

Example: Pernickel is a 28-year old marketing professional who has been subscribed to a travel agency’s emails for quite some time. He hasn’t done any booking yet, but through predictive analytics, the agency knows:

• Pernickel opens their emails with destinations in Europe, but doesn’t when their emails feature beaches and mountains in the US and Latin America.
  
• Pernickel usually clicks on links about historical sites and cultural events.
  
• On their last visit to the agency’s website, Pernickel viewed a blog post on “10 Pet-friendly Stays in Budapest”

The agency’s predictive analytics model anticipates that Pernickel might be interested in an European cultural trip with his pet. Accordingly, the agency sends Pernickel highly relevant, targeted emails. 

Read more: How Predictive Marketing is Transforming Email Marketing

AI Optimization for Travel Email Marketing

Optimization covers how your email is going to look and sound to the recipient. This involves creating good subject lines, winning copy, design, etc. 

With the help of generative AI, you can create personalized subject lines and body copy in no time. Top GenAI fine-tuning tools can help adapt your AI model to better align with your audience’s preferences. You’ll find generative AI assimilated into all major ESPs. If you want, you can also try standalone gen AI tools like ChatGPT, Copy.ai, etc. 

For instance, here’s a list of five GPT-generated subject lines. But remember to refine them. 

For design (smart templates), you may want to explore AI design platforms like Sarbacane, Midjourney, Postcards, Colormind, etc. You don’t need coding skills to design your templates. The tools come equipped with a variety of pre-designed, customizable, and device-optimized templates for all kinds of emails.

AI-powered A/B Testing for The Travel Industry

A critical part of optimization is A/B testing. AI can automate the process, enabling travel affiliates to quickly find the best-performing version of their emails. 

AI-integrated A/B testing is modeled on what is known as the “multi-armed bandit testing.” In a multi-armed bandit experiment, a system tries to find new knowledge while using existing knowledge to make decisions. Let’s understand it through a simple example. 

Suppose you’re testing two versions of your subject line. The algorithm sends out a certain number of emails of both versions to a segment. It begins to track the relevant metrics, such as open rate, CTR, conversion rate, etc. 

As data accumulates, the algorithm determines which version is performing better. It then gradually increases the percentage of emails sent from the winning variant, and decreases the percentage of emails sent from the losing variant. 

During the process, the algorithm is constantly learning and readjusting email allocation based on real-time signals. Eventually, the majority of emails that will be sent will be from the best-performing version. 

Send Time Optimization for the Travel Industry

It’s hard to say what the right time to send an email is. With everything being hyper-personalized, there’s no one-size-fits-all answer. Each person is different, and they have their own times when they’re most active online. Without AI, all you really know is where your customers are and what time it is there.

But with AI, you get to know so much more, from local weather patterns and holidays to weekly activities, open rates by hour, CTR by device and time, etc. 

Let’s consider another example. Xenobia is a 25-year old software engineer based in Aranda, Canberra. She has been subscribed to a US-based travel brand. This brand leverages AI for email marketing. Through AI, the brand knows:

• Xenobia usually opens their emails at around 10-11 AM every week
  
• Aranda is likely to experience a particularly severe heatwave from 28th to 30th January. 

Through this real-time data, the company anticipates what exactly Xenobia might need at the moment. So they send out an email featuring summer getaways, or Switzerland package deals, or destinations popular for water activities, etc. 

AI Email Marketing: An Exact Science?

No, it’s not an exact science. The examples we provided so far hint at the real possibility of what AI-integrated email marketing can achieve, but it’s important to not take the examples at face value. 

The usefulness of AI is directly related to how good your data is. Low-quality customer data can lead AI to make inaccurate predictions. If you trust it blindly, you’ll end up sending irrelevant emails to your segments. 

AI still can’t account for all the variables that influence customer behavior. For instance, a sudden change in mood can influence whether or not a recipient will open your email. Plus, in the case of generative AI, you need to review and refine the outputs. 

So the goal is to have AI complement your work, not supplant it. 

Ready for AI-integrated Email Marketing?

Over the last year, AI has been an integral component of our research. So far, we’ve explored over a hundred AI tools that can help us deliver better, lightning-quick results. From template production to campaign management, AI has incentivized our vision for our clients. 

So if you want to reap the benefits of AI email marketing for your business, feel free to get in touch with us. Backed by our inhouse expertise and AI integration, your business should be well on its way!

The post AI-integrated Email Marketing for the Tourism And Travel Industry appeared first on Email Uplers.

Unlike custom-coded editors, drag-n-drop email builders come equipped with modules or blocks which you can customize according to your brand needs. (If you want, you can learn the difference between custom-coded emails and drag-and-drop builders in more detail.)

Now more than ever, businesses such as yours recognize the need for drag-n-drop builders. And why not? You can be up and ready for email marketing without needing to master HTML coding. It’s a great user-friendly alternative to custom coding.  

The market has opened up, with the result that it is saturated with drag-n-drop builders. So the question is: how do you tab the right one? 

We’ve done the work for you! We’re listing the top ten drag-and-drop email builders (free and paid) for you to choose from. Keep reading!

How We Curated This List

Having worked with over 5000 brands by now, we know what exactly to look for in a drag-n-drop email builder. So in our search for the top ten, we fussed over the following:

• Does the email builder offer enough premade templates?
  
• Does the builder provide desktop and mobile previews?
  
• Is there an image editor? If yes, how intuitive is it?
  
• Can the builder create templates that will render well with all major email clients?
  
• Does the builder provide native integration with ESPs?
  
• Does the builder offer easy A/B testing to optimize campaign performance?

You’ll notice price didn’t factor in our considerations. That’s because affordability varies from brand to brand. It’s up to you to determine the viability of resources.

Let’s get started then with our first email newsletter template builder.

1. Stripo

Stripo is probably the best newsletter drag and drop tool out there. It has an image editor, testing tools, and AMP support. Here’s what we loved best about Stripo’s drag-n-drop email builder:

• Stripo offers native integration with ESPs
  
• You can save templates to Stripo’s custom module library for reuse later
  
• You can preview emails on desktop, mobile, and tablets
  
• Stripo offers 1500+ HTML templates

Stripo is suitable for both beginners and advanced email marketers. 

2. Chamaileon

If you’re a big agency with a large team, Chamaileon is just the email builder you need. Chamaileon promises 10x faster email production. Here are some of its cool features:

• The builder offers mobile and desktop previews
  
• You can choose from over 600 HTML email templates
  
• You can save blocks for future use, and easily redesign previous images
  
• Chamaileon allows you to collaborate with your email team in real-time

Chamaileon is not for free, but it does offer a 14-day trial period. 

3. Postcards 

Postcards from Designmodo is a feature-rich newsletter drag and drop email builder suitable for both professional designers and rookies. It allows you to build and personalize email templates on its no-code builder. So you can add, remove, or rearrange prebuilt content blocks to personalize your email layout. Or you can design emails from scratch.

You can also choose from an impressive range of prebuilt email templates to suit your needs. The builder offers responsive design as well. You can ensure that your email looks great on all devices. Along with content editing, the tool lets you work with your team in real-time. Once you’re done, you can seamlessly export your finished template to your chosen platform. 

Here’s a brief rundown of the features that Postcards offers:

• Text editor with extensive, beautiful typography; custom and Google fonts support
  
• Layout view
  
• Undo and redo options
  
• Multi-select edit option
  
• AI assistant
  
• External image support
  
• Unlimited, one-click exports 
  
• Direct email preview, and more!

4. Beefree

Beefree is another impressive email newsletter builder with a simple interface and a whole host of modern-looking prebuilt templates. We’d bet on the following features:

• The builder is ESP-agnostic. It works well with major ESPs like HubSpot, Mailchimp, etc.
  
• You can have multiple users on the same account
  
• You can design responsive emails. Leverage reusable content blocks to transform emails to landing pages on cruise control
  
• Real-time commenting, editing, and hassle-free approval process

Like Stripo, Beefree is well-matched to beginners and email pros alike. 

5. Tabular

Tabular is a newsletter drag and drop editor best for responsive emails and complex design. The following features make Tabular what it is:

• The builder provides desktop and mobile previews
  
• You can create complex email layouts
  
• You can work with your team and share emails with public demo pages. (A public demo page is a temporary webpage version of your email.)
  
• Once done, Tabular lets you upload emails directly to your platform

The free version allows you to try three emails and 37 templates. 

6. Mailchimp

Mailchimp has two email builders: Classic and New. The Classic builder is suitable for those who want to design custom-coded emails. While both versions offer drag-n-drop functionality, you should try the New builder because it’s updated to include more features:

• Integrate third-party platforms with the help of the Apps content block
  
• Use the Content optimizer feature to create marketing content
  
• Add a Survey content block to gather feedback from your audience 

Mailchimp has all the benefits a traditional HTML newsletter builder can offer. It has a rich library of email templates for all sorts of emails. Feel free to learn more about templates in Mailchimp.

7. HubSpot

HubSpot enables you to create emails without any prior design or technical knowhow. Their HTML newsletter builder boasts an impressive collection of templates. Some noteworthy features include:

• A/B testing to test different elements of your email, from subject line to CTA
  
• Responsive emails; previews for desktop, tablets, and smartphones available
  
• Built-in reporting, app-agnostic, and CRM integration
  
• Personalization tokens to create dynamic content and boost engagement 

Read more: 10 Essential HubSpot Integrations for Email Marketers

8. Klaviyo

Klaviyo is a well-known email marketing platform with an intuitive drag and drop newsletter builder. Some of its notable features as a drag-n-drop interface include:

• Hybrid email templates: Mix custom coding and drag-n-drop in a single template
  
• Universal content blocks: Create reusable content blocks and save them in a library
  
• Product block integration: You can add a dedicated product block to your templates. This feature is for ecommerce brands
  
• AMP email support: You can create AMP emails within the drag-n-drop builder, allowing for greater engagement with mobile-heavy users

9. SendGrid

SendGrid is primarily an email delivery platform. But it has an email editor for designing professional-looking emails with no coding knowledge required. SendGrid offers a rich library of pre-built responsive email templates to get you started. 

You can design emails and automate email campaigns. Developers can integrate SendGrid’s API into their apps to send emails. 

SendGrid is best suited for developers looking for API access. For instance, using the Designs API, developers can integrate pre-built email templates into their applications.  

10. Topol

Topol is an impressive email newsletter builder packed with a slew of design features. Topol made it to the list thanks to the following features:

• You can choose from a large number of email templates
• You can save content blocks, as well as import custom HTML to the editor
• Multiple users can work on the same account
• You can export emails to various major ESPs

Are Your Emails Pre-Built for Success?

Finding the right HTML email builder is one thing; finding the tool that is best aligned with your email marketing workflows, quite another. If you need, feel free to take a shot at all the email builders we listed. Sign up for free trials and demos, and explore the features. 

Alternatively, if you need a custom email template that is unique and helps you stand out from the crowd, you can get in touch with our ESP certified email team. We’ll design and code your idea into a flawless custom responsive email template.

The post Top 10 Drag-And-Drop Email Newsletter Templates Builders in 2025 appeared first on Email Uplers.